Glass Houses

Glass Houses by Louise Penny
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #13
Mystery
2017 Minotaur Books
Finished on June 12, 2020
Rating: 5/5 (Excellent!)

Publisher's Blurb:

When a mysterious figure appears in Three Pines one cold November day, Armand Gamache and the rest of the villagers are at first curious. Then wary. Through rain and sleet, the figure stands unmoving, staring ahead.

From the moment the creature's shadow falls over the village, Gamache, now Chief Superintendent of the Sûreté du Quebec, suspects it has deep roots and a dark purpose. Yet he does nothing. What can he do? Only watch and wait. And hope his mounting fears are not realized.

But when the figure vanishes overnight and a body is discovered, it falls to Gamache to discover if a debt has been paid or levied.

Months later, on a steamy July day, as the trial for the accused begins in Montréal, Chief Superintendent Gamache continues to struggle with actions he set in motion that bitter November from which there is no going back. More than the accused is on trial. Gamache's own conscience is standing in judgment.

In her latest utterly gripping book, number-one New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny shatters the conventions of the crime novel to explore what Gandhi called the court of conscience. A court that supersedes all others.

Last month I read and loved A Great Reckoning (#12 in the Three Pines series), which I claimed was my favorite book by Louise Penny. Well, this remarkable author continues to impress and I now say that Glass Houses is her best. I loved how she carefully constructed the narrative of this installment, merging the events leading up to and after the murder with the courtroom drama, teasing out small bits of information, yet never revealing the identity of the defendant. Unlike most novels that shift between past and present (typically with alternating chapters), Penny seamlessly transitions between the time periods, often mid-chapter. As soon as I finished the last page, I quickly flipped back to re-read several sections in order to spot the clues and connect the dots that the author, who is a master of misdirection, so carefully hid. This fast-paced page turner, with all its twists and turns and fully realized characters (oh, how we love these characters!), is worthy of all high praise. I can't wait to go back and listen to this one on audio. Outstanding!

Favorite Passage:

She had always been his wife. He’d known that the first moment he’d seen her. He knew her, that first moment. Through the ages. Through the lifetimes. Every other relationship might change, flow, morph into another guise, but his relationship with Reine-Marie was absolute and eternal. She was his wife. And he was her husband. Forever.